Latest updates

Monday, June 29, 2009

The preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place on November 25th, 2007 and used the November 2007 FIFA ranking.

Assumptions:

- UEFA will again have 13 spots- UEFA will again use the system with 9 groups- FIFA will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams- FIFA will hold the draw in November 2011

The November 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between November 2007 and November 2011. We already have the "0.2" part (matches played between November 2007 and November 2008) - that's basically 10% of the final ranking and a bit of the "0.3" part (matches played between November 2008 and November 2009). A lot can and will change before November 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving European teams: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup, EURO 2012 qualifiers and plenty of friendlies.

Included: matches up to and including June 25th and the FIFA Confederations Cup final and third place match. However, FIFA may include more matches, but no later than Sunday, June 28th.

With the exception of Italy, the teams in the top 10 all changed their position. Brazil will grab the headlines of course, as they are the new leaders in the FIFA Ranking. Spain drop to 2nd. Russia up three places to 6th.

Australia break for the first time into the top 20.

Best movers:

23 - Korea DPR22 - Moldova20 - Côte d'Ivoire

Worst movers:

-40 - Sierra Leone-34 - Gambia-32 - Bermuda

Best movers in the top 50:

20 - Côte d'Ivoire19 - Algeria16 - Gabon

Worst movers in the top 50:

-16 - Turkey-12 - Bosnia-Herzegovina-11 - Sweden

Cook Islands move off the bottom of the ranking after taking 4 points from Tonga in two friendly matches.

Côte d'Ivoire - top African team, replacing Cameroon. Egypt drop out of the African top 5, replaced by Gabon - the new third team in Africa.

Serbia (14th - 17th in July 2007)Australia (16th - 27th in February 2009)Gabon (32nd - 45th in January 1996)Grenada (88th - 102nd in June 2009)Montenegro (98th - 110th in June 2009)Antigua and Barbuda (105th - 109th in October 2006)

Côte d'Ivoire will revisit their highest ever ranking - 18th, first achieved in August 2006. Obviously, same goes for Brazil.

The British Virgin Islands will go back to their worst ever ranking - 193rd, first achieved January 2008.

Thirteen teams will have their worst ever ranking:

Sweden (42nd - 33rd in April 2009)Congo DR (102nd - 95th in June 2008)China PR (108th - 104th in January 2009)Zimbabwe (115th - 106th in April 2009)United Arab Emirates (123rd - 122nd in April 2009)Mauritius (176th - 174th in April 2008)Tahiti (191st - 190th in January 2009)St. Lucia (191st - 189th in April 2009)Andorra (197th - 196th in May 2009)Dominica (198th - 197th in April 2009)Central African Republic (202nd - 201st in April 2009)Papua New Guinea (203rd - 202nd in April 2009)San Marino (203rd - 202nd in April 2009)

July 2009 rank - Team - July 2009 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1

Brazil

1672

4

384

2

Spain

1590

-1

-171

3

Netherlands

1379

-1

-63

4

Italy

1229

0

-63

5

Germany

1207

-2

-171

6

Russia

1161

3

-6

7

England

1135

-1

-90

8

Argentina

1091

-1

-112

9

France

1082

1

15

10

Croatia

1031

-2

-169

11

Greece

1001

6

79

12

USA

983

2

36

13

Switzerland

930

3

-1

14

Serbia

925

6

55

15

Denmark

909

9

73

16

Australia

886

13

107

17

Portugal

879

-6

-125

18

Côte d'Ivoire

874

20

129

19

Ukraine

869

0

-22

20

Uruguay

860

-3

-62

21

Czech Republic

850

-6

-93

22

Paraguay

846

-9

-115

23

Bulgaria

840

0

2

24

Scotland

837

-2

-3

25

Israel

823

0

-4

26

Romania

814

2

24

27

Chile

811

10

65

28

Turkey

809

-16

-155

29

Cameroon

803

-8

-52

30

Costa Rica

801

11

107

31

Mexico

793

-5

-29

32

Gabon

789

16

173

33

Northern Ireland

785

-6

-35

34

Nigeria

773

-4

3

35

Ghana

772

1

22

36

Ecuador

760

8

74

37

Honduras

758

-2

-3

37

Republic of Ireland

758

-3

-4

39

Egypt

753

1

34

40

Japan

723

-9

-43

41

Poland

706

-2

-16

42

Sweden

702

-11

-64

43

Slovakia

688

-1

-5

44

Hungary

681

-1

-6

45

Bosnia-Herzegovina

680

-12

-83

46

Colombia

675

-1

-3

47

Algeria

659

19

169

48

Korea Republic

634

-2

-20

49

Tunisia

617

2

20

50

Venezuela

610

6

42

51

Norway

606

-4

-32

52

Burkina Faso

598

-2

-10

53

Finland

592

-4

-22

54

FYR Macedonia

590

10

75

55

Morocco

569

0

-2

56

Latvia

562

3

10

57

Guinea

561

-4

-25

58

Iran

559

-6

-28

59

Mali

551

-5

-32

60

Lithuania

544

0

0

61

Saudi Arabia

542

-5

-26

62

Slovenia

539

-1

3

63

Belgium

532

0

14

64

Bolivia

521

-6

-44

65

Jamaica

520

11

64

66

Panama

501

-5

-35

67

Bahrain

496

3

23

68

Austria

493

2

20

68

Wales

493

6

25

70

South Africa

478

2

7

71

Togo

468

-3

-7

72

Trinidad and Tobago

461

0

-10

73

Cyprus

445

6

4

74

Belarus

443

7

11

75

Libya

438

-6

-36

75

Uganda

438

-8

-42

77

Zambia

419

13

15

78

Oman

413

2

-27

79

Uzbekistan

402

-1

-41

80

Benin

399

11

-3

80

Senegal

399

-5

-64

82

Mozambique

394

5

-18

83

Korea DPR

393

23

55

84

Moldova

388

22

50

85

Cuba

383

14

30

86

Qatar

380

8

-5

87

Peru

379

2

-28

88

Congo

378

-2

-41

88

Grenada

378

14

34

90

El Salvador

375

10

23

91

Sudan

367

-3

-41

92

Canada

358

-9

-72

93

Iceland

357

-1

-43

94

Iraq

355

-17

-95

95

Albania

347

-3

-53

96

Syria

345

8

4

97

Tanzania

344

12

12

98

Montenegro

339

12

8

99

Gambia

337

-34

-177

100

New Zealand

336

-18

-95

101

Fiji

333

7

0

102

Angola

330

-5

-44

102

Congo DR

330

-18

-93

104

Georgia

326

1

-13

105

Antigua and Barbuda

325

9

29

105

Kenya

325

-3

-19

107

Barbados

319

13

42

108

China PR

318

-10

-45

109

Guatemala

312

3

1

109

Malawi

312

2

-11

111

Suriname

309

12

43

112

Estonia

307

1

10

113

Rwanda

298

-17

-77

114

Cape Verde Islands

296

-20

-89

115

Zimbabwe

295

-14

-51

116

Namibia

294

12

45

117

Thailand

290

-1

0

118

Kuwait

287

-1

-2

119

Luxembourg

284

1

7

120

Haiti

257

4

-7

121

Guyana

248

6

-7

122

Jordan

244

4

-15

123

Armenia

243

8

4

123

United Arab Emirates

243

-1

-25

125

Sierra Leone

241

-40

-180

126

Chad

233

3

-13

127

Singapore

228

7

2

128

Madagascar

226

2

-15

129

Burundi

220

10

12

130

Equatorial Guinea

219

-5

-42

131

Vietnam

215

4

-9

132

Indonesia

206

6

-3

133

Kazakhstan

204

-1

-26

134

Botswana

203

-16

-75

135

Nicaragua

195

7

0

136

Niger

187

8

16

137

Hong Kong

186

6

0

138

Ethiopia

177

-20

-101

139

Azerbaijan

175

1

-26

140

Netherlands Antilles

169

5

9

141

Vanuatu

163

-1

-38

142

Liberia

161

-6

-60

143

Swaziland

160

-6

-58

144

Yemen

157

2

0

145

St. Kitts and Nevis

151

6

12

146

Bermuda

150

-32

-146

147

India

148

0

-7

148

Tajikistan

147

0

0

149

New Caledonia

142

-16

-87

150

Malta

140

0

0

151

Lebanon

138

6

18

152

Turkmenistan

137

2

7

153

Liechtenstein

134

3

9

154

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

133

-1

-3

155

Myanmar

129

0

0

156

Maldives

117

-7

-25

157

Malaysia

112

2

3

158

Philippines

108

2

0

159

Eritrea

106

-2

-14

159

Lesotho

106

5

6

161

Kyrgyzstan

105

1

0

162

Sri Lanka

101

-1

-6

163

Solomon Islands

100

1

0

164

Mauritania

99

-1

-5

165

Faroe Islands

96

1

0

166

Puerto Rico

87

-15

-52

167

Pakistan

85

0

-3

168

Somalia

82

0

0

169

Bangladesh

80

2

7

170

Seychelles

77

10

16

171

Cayman Islands

76

-2

0

172

Laos

73

-1

0

173

Nepal

71

-3

-4

174

Chinese Taipei

70

-3

-3

175

Palestine

69

0

0

176

Cambodia

64

3

1

176

Mauritius

64

-2

-6

176

Samoa

64

1

0

179

Mongolia

61

-3

-7

180

Belize

57

-3

-7

181

Bahamas

53

0

0

182

Turks and Caicos Islands

51

0

0

183

Brunei Darussalam

46

0

0

184

Dominican Republic

40

2

0

184

Tonga

40

5

8

186

Guinea-Bissau

38

1

0

187

Afghanistan

36

-3

-8

188

Cook Islands

34

14

34

188

Guam

34

0

0

190

Djibouti

33

-5

-8

191

St. Lucia

32

-2

0

191

Tahiti

32

-2

0

193

British Virgin Islands

30

-1

0

194

Macau

28

0

0

195

Aruba

22

0

0

196

Bhutan

17

-4

-13

197

Andorra

16

-1

-1

198

Dominica

12

-1

0

199

Timor-Leste

9

-1

0

200

Comoros

8

-1

0

200

US Virgin Islands

8

-1

0

202

Central African Republic

4

-1

0

203

American Samoa

0

-1

0

203

Anguilla

0

-1

0

203

Montserrat

0

-1

0

203

Papua New Guinea

0

-1

0

203

San Marino

0

-1

0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

Friday, June 26, 2009

After losing to the USA, Spain are in danger of losing the top spot in the FIFA Ranking. Spain's chances of fending off the Brazilians rest with the USA. Spain must defeat South Africa (avoiding PSO) and hope USA do the same against the Seleção. Any other combination of results will hand the top spot to the Brazilians.

Basically, if Brazil avoid losing to the USA (no PSO), they will return to first place, a position they lost in September 2007.

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

With the help of FIFA's Information Services department I managed to solve the June 2009 differences for England, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece and Armenia. Those differences involved two matches played on June 1st, 2008 (Armenia - Greece and Trinidad and Tobago - England). It had to do with the unofficial deadline used back then. I still have a one point difference for Japan, but will solve it in the near future.

With those problems fixed, England's ranking in the July 2009 preview drops from 6th to 7th, with Russia taking advantage of this. Armenia climb 5 places from 128th to 123rd.

The June 29th update will have the correct values.

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

Besides the Confederations Cup matches, there's only one more match before the official June 25th deadline - a Mexico - Venezuela friendly.

This means only 6 teams can change their point totals: Brazil, USA, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Venezuela. In the ranking table, the value displayed for these teams is the minimum possible value. This means that even if they lose their remaining match(es) their total can't drop.

Serbia (13th - 17th in July 2007)Australia (15th - 27th in February 2009)Gabon (31st - 45th in January 1996)Grenada (88th - 102nd in June 2009)Montenegro (98th - 110th in June 2009)Antigua and Barbuda (105th - 109th in October 2006)

Serbia and Australia can be overtaken by the USA. Gabon can be overtaken by Mexico.

Côte d'Ivoire will revisit their highest ever ranking - 18th, first achieved in August 2006.

The British Virgin Islands will go back to their worst ever ranking - 193rd, first achieved January 2008.

Fourteen teams will have their worst ever ranking:

Mexico (35th - 32nd in August 2008)Sweden (42nd - 33rd in April 2009)Congo DR (102nd - 95th in June 2008)China PR (108th - 104th in January 2009)Zimbabwe (115th - 106th in April 2009)United Arab Emirates (123rd - 122nd in April 2009)Mauritius (176th - 174th in April 2008)St. Lucia (191st - 189th in April 2009)Tahiti (191st - 190th in January 2009)Andorra (197th - 196th in May 2009)Dominica (198th - 197th in April 2009)Central African Republic (202nd - 201st in April 2009)Papua New Guinea (203rd - 202nd in April 2009)San Marino (203rd - 202nd in April 2009)

Mexico can still avoid this with a win against Venezuela.

Teams in red will improve their total if they make at least a point in their remaining matches.

July 2009 rank - Team - July 2009 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1

Spain

1519

0

-242

2

Brazil

1500

3

212

3

Netherlands

1379

-1

-63

4

Italy

1229

0

-63

5

Germany

1207

-2

-171

6

England

1165

0

-60

7

Russia

1161

2

-6

8

Argentina

1091

-1

-112

9

France

1082

1

15

10

Croatia

1031

-2

-169

11

Greece

1003

6

81

12

Switzerland

930

4

-1

13

Serbia

925

7

55

14

Denmark

909

10

73

15

Australia

886

14

107

16

USA

885

-2

-62

17

Portugal

879

-6

-125

18

Côte d'Ivoire

874

20

129

19

Ukraine

869

0

-22

20

Uruguay

860

-3

-62

21

Czech Republic

850

-6

-93

22

Paraguay

846

-9

-115

23

Bulgaria

840

0

2

24

Scotland

837

-2

-3

25

Israel

823

0

-4

26

Romania

814

2

24

27

Chile

811

10

65

28

Turkey

809

-16

-155

29

Cameroon

803

-8

-52

30

Costa Rica

801

11

107

31

Gabon

789

17

173

32

Northern Ireland

785

-5

-35

33

Nigeria

773

-3

3

34

Ghana

772

2

22

35

Mexico

768

-9

-54

36

Ecuador

760

8

74

37

Honduras

758

-2

-3

37

Republic of Ireland

758

-3

-4

39

Egypt

753

1

34

40

Japan

723

-9

-43

41

Poland

706

-2

-16

42

Sweden

702

-11

-64

43

Slovakia

688

-1

-5

44

Hungary

681

-1

-6

45

Bosnia-Herzegovina

680

-12

-83

46

Colombia

675

-1

-3

47

Algeria

659

19

169

48

Korea Republic

634

-2

-20

49

Tunisia

617

2

20

50

Venezuela

610

6

42

51

Norway

606

-4

-32

52

Burkina Faso

598

-2

-10

53

Finland

592

-4

-22

54

FYR Macedonia

590

10

75

55

Morocco

569

0

-2

56

Latvia

562

3

10

57

Guinea

561

-4

-25

58

Iran

559

-6

-28

59

Mali

551

-5

-32

60

Lithuania

544

0

0

61

Saudi Arabia

542

-5

-26

62

Slovenia

539

-1

3

63

Belgium

532

0

14

64

Bolivia

521

-6

-44

65

Jamaica

520

11

64

66

Panama

501

-5

-35

67

Bahrain

496

3

23

68

Austria

493

2

20

68

Wales

493

6

25

70

South Africa

478

2

7

71

Togo

468

-3

-7

72

Trinidad and Tobago

465

0

-6

73

Cyprus

445

6

4

74

Belarus

443

7

11

75

Libya

438

-6

-36

75

Uganda

438

-8

-42

77

Zambia

419

13

15

78

Oman

413

2

-27

79

Uzbekistan

402

-1

-41

80

Benin

399

11

-3

80

Senegal

399

-5

-64

82

Mozambique

394

5

-18

83

Korea DPR

393

23

55

84

Moldova

388

22

50

85

Cuba

383

14

30

86

Qatar

380

8

-5

87

Peru

379

2

-28

88

Congo

378

-2

-41

88

Grenada

378

14

34

90

El Salvador

375

10

23

91

Sudan

367

-3

-41

92

Canada

358

-9

-72

93

Iceland

357

-1

-43

94

Iraq

355

-17

-95

95

Albania

347

-3

-53

96

Syria

345

8

4

97

Tanzania

344

12

12

98

Montenegro

339

12

8

99

Gambia

337

-34

-177

100

New Zealand

336

-18

-95

101

Fiji

333

7

0

102

Angola

330

-5

-44

102

Congo DR

330

-18

-93

104

Georgia

326

1

-13

105

Antigua and Barbuda

325

9

29

105

Kenya

325

-3

-19

107

Barbados

319

13

42

108

China PR

318

-10

-45

109

Guatemala

312

3

1

109

Malawi

312

2

-11

111

Suriname

309

12

43

112

Estonia

307

1

10

113

Rwanda

298

-17

-77

114

Cape Verde Islands

296

-20

-89

115

Zimbabwe

295

-14

-51

116

Namibia

294

12

45

117

Thailand

290

-1

0

118

Kuwait

287

-1

-2

119

Luxembourg

284

1

7

120

Haiti

257

4

-7

121

Guyana

248

6

-7

122

Jordan

244

4

-15

123

United Arab Emirates

243

-1

-25

124

Sierra Leone

241

-39

-180

125

Chad

233

4

-13

126

Singapore

228

8

2

127

Madagascar

226

3

-15

128

Armenia

222

3

-17

129

Burundi

220

10

12

130

Equatorial Guinea

219

-5

-42

131

Vietnam

215

4

-9

132

Indonesia

206

6

-3

133

Kazakhstan

204

-1

-26

134

Botswana

203

-16

-75

135

Nicaragua

195

7

0

136

Niger

187

8

16

137

Hong Kong

186

6

0

138

Ethiopia

177

-20

-101

139

Azerbaijan

175

1

-26

140

Netherlands Antilles

169

5

9

141

Vanuatu

163

-1

-38

142

Liberia

161

-6

-60

142

Swaziland

161

-5

-57

144

Yemen

157

2

0

145

St. Kitts and Nevis

151

6

12

146

Bermuda

150

-32

-146

147

India

148

0

-7

148

Tajikistan

147

0

0

149

New Caledonia

142

-16

-87

150

Malta

140

0

0

151

Lebanon

138

6

18

152

Turkmenistan

137

2

7

153

Liechtenstein

134

3

9

154

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

133

-1

-3

155

Myanmar

129

0

0

156

Maldives

117

-7

-25

157

Malaysia

112

2

3

158

Philippines

108

2

0

159

Eritrea

106

-2

-14

160

Kyrgyzstan

105

2

0

161

Lesotho

103

3

3

162

Sri Lanka

101

-1

-6

163

Solomon Islands

100

1

0

164

Mauritania

99

-1

-5

165

Faroe Islands

96

1

0

166

Puerto Rico

87

-15

-52

167

Pakistan

85

0

-3

168

Somalia

82

0

0

169

Bangladesh

80

2

7

170

Seychelles

77

10

16

171

Cayman Islands

76

-2

0

172

Laos

73

-1

0

173

Nepal

71

-3

-4

174

Chinese Taipei

70

-3

-3

175

Palestine

69

0

0

176

Cambodia

64

3

1

176

Mauritius

64

-2

-6

176

Samoa

64

1

0

179

Mongolia

61

-3

-7

180

Belize

57

-3

-7

181

Bahamas

53

0

0

182

Turks and Caicos Islands

51

0

0

183

Brunei Darussalam

46

0

0

184

Dominican Republic

40

2

0

184

Tonga

40

5

8

186

Guinea-Bissau

38

1

0

187

Afghanistan

36

-3

-8

188

Cook Islands

34

14

34

188

Guam

34

0

0

190

Djibouti

33

-5

-8

191

St. Lucia

32

-2

0

191

Tahiti

32

-2

0

193

British Virgin Islands

30

-1

0

194

Macau

28

0

0

195

Aruba

22

0

0

196

Bhutan

17

-4

-13

197

Andorra

16

-1

-1

198

Dominica

12

-1

0

199

Timor-Leste

9

-1

0

200

Comoros

8

-1

0

200

US Virgin Islands

8

-1

0

202

Central African Republic

4

-1

0

203

American Samoa

0

-1

0

203

Anguilla

0

-1

0

203

Montserrat

0

-1

0

203

Papua New Guinea

0

-1

0

203

San Marino

0

-1

0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.